Flying Off at Multiple Tangents

Something extraordinary happened today. I learned how to pump breast milk from Facebook! I’m sorry, that’s just a childish mockery. Honestly, it’s disgusting to read an explicit description of how a friend pumped her breast for milk and of course she had to mention how her one-year-old baby boy cupped the milk squirting from the you-know-what. Urgh, I think I’ve been mentally harassed. Yet, that’s the beauty of Facebook. You can never tell too much.

Tangent 1: There’s one topic here that never escapes the day – weather. It has been crazy lately. One minute it’s snowing on a sunny day, one minute it gets too bright you have to close your blinds and suddenly you open your blinds when it gets a little dark to see a nasty blizzard. Let’s hope Mr. Weather behaves by the time we’re packing and ready to go for the one-week backpacking trip. Sure, it’s like wishing for a great movie after seeing the promising trailer. Most of the time the trailer fails to convey the whole picture and not in a good way. Oh by the way, please check out The Blind Side and Changeling (symbolically titled by Clint Eastwood) if you haven’t yet. They’re both based closely on true stories and would really move you at different levels. You might want to watch Changeling first and then cheer up a little with The Blind Side – no spoiler intended.

Tangent 2: Being in England, you shouldn’t miss their authentic fish and chips. Alright, I haven’t had the chance to taste the real thing (they said Sheffield and Whitley Bay are the best in the North-East area) but that's Mama's yardstick for fish and chips after so many years so it has to be really good.

i l.i.k.e

That is in my to-do list here (though I prefer having them in newsprint!). Lake District as well, where Mama went hiking in the mountains with daffodils blooming and had homemade scones 27 years ago. Hubby wants to visit Manchester and Liverpool. He’s devoted to Manchester United football team and well, the Beatles.

Tangent 3: I’m almost at the end of my second semester (okay, two more months but who’s counting? erm..) and as keen as I am to approach another new chapter, my parents reminded me about Ramadhan which usually takes place in summer. Yes indeed it falls on 11 August this year. Ramadhan here is quite a challenge. Generally fasting starts from 3am and not until 8pm, at least. There are days when it doesn’t get dark until 9pm. I know non-Muslims always find it bizarre and I’ve had many questions last year including something like “Don’t you guys, you know…die or at least pass out of hunger and dehydration?”. Yes, I did get that and it wasn’t from a child. It saddens me a little because even though I have a strong faith based on what I know, I actually know so little to convince people whose view on the religion is stained by media and such (and Muslims, humans as we know it, practise differently from one region to another which doesn’t really help). So one extra thing in my to-do list before this year’s Ramadhan is to read up more on Islam and have my faith replenished at the same time.

Replenished…now it just reminds me of breast milk.